Rim Fire Started when Hunter’s Illegal Fire “Escaped”

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Firefighter at the Rim Fire

TUOLUMNE COUNTY-

Investigators with the U.S. Forest Service announced Thursday morning that they’ve determined the cause of the destructive Rim Fire.

The massive wildfire started Aug. 17, when a hunter allowed an illegal fire to escape near the Jawbone Ridge area of the Stanislaus National Forest.

Forest Service investigators say no illegal marijuana grow operations in the area. It was suggested earlier in the investigation that a fire from such an operation may have spread, but investigators are now counting that out.

The name of the hunter is being withheld, pending further investigation from the Forest Service and the Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office.